So - I am typing this on Saturday night at midnight after a long hard day of touring - with lots of walking.
We started about 11 AM when Nancy's conference was over. We are traveling with 4 bags total - 2 rolling suitcases - 1 backpack - and 1 hand bag. We caught the train for Amsterdam and had a good start. At about 1/3 the way - our train broke down - yes - stopped and would not move. Nancy and I have always been bragging about how good the trains are over here - well this one failed. We got out of the train at a small station - had to carry our bags a long way - then caught a local train to Rotterdam - the world's busiest seaport. There - we caught another train into Amsterdam - arriving in town about 2 hours late at 6 PM.
We took our bags to the hotel room - and went touring.
Of course - one of the first places we had to go was the red light district. We expected to see a sleazy area - but it was more of an upscale Bourbon Street. Yes - there are working girls in the windows - but they were not painted up like a Toulouse LaTrec posters. Most of the people were middle age gawkers like us. Also lots of men in their 20s with lots of bravado in groups just like dogs.
Another site to see were the "coffee houses" that are allowed to sell you marijuana to consume on the premises. If there was 1 coffee house - there must have been 300 - and they were busy. It is a street scene quite different than anywhere else in the world. If you are wondering if Harry tried any new tricks - the answers are no - and no.
We got to the Ann Frank House late at night - we plan to go back tomorrow to tour the inside.
After that - we took the long way home - part walking - part trolley.
We have a lot to do tomorrow beside touring Amsterdam. We must get our bags to the storage bins at the station before the spaces are all taken - so we must do that before 10 AM. Then we are going to try to reserve a sleeping berth on the night train to Munich. So we will have to be at reservations early at the train station - before we tour. If we can't get the night train - we will have to alter our plans - and just leave the city on any train going toward Munich. Our next few nights are planned at Saltzburg and Fussen - 2 places Nancy wants to see. Then we will visit the "mittelworks" near Nordhausen - the place where the Nazis built the V-2 Rockets inside the mountain. After that - we plan to boat the Rhine River near Cologne - you can use the Eurail Pass to do that.
Then - we fly from Brussels back to NYC and spend a week there - then home.
It would be great having Drew's iphone over here - we could send e-mail home whenever the phone see a wifi connection. We have been disappointed with the free e-mail service or lack thereof - over here.
All in all - the trip has been pretty good - if we get the night train tomorrow night for Munich - that would be perfect. Amsterdam is really crowded - I hope it thins out a bit for the rest of our trip.
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